German press highlights ‘bitter’ victory for Bayern

Berlin, May 4 (IANS) The German press on Wednesday praised Bayern Munich’s performance against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg, describing it as a “bitter” victory, not enough to reach the final.

Atletico lost 1-2 against Bavarian football giants Bayern on Tuesday in Munich, but qualified by the double value of the goals scored away from home after having won 1-0 in Madrid, reports Efe.

The defeat left outgoing coach Pep Guardiola without a chance for a treble for his farewell to Germany.

“The bitterest victory for Pep,” proclaimed the headline in Bild, which described the match as a “giant clash”.

The newspaper maintained that the Catalan coach lost once more the chance to win the Champions League, along with the Bundesliga which he is looking to win this week, and the DFB-Pokal, in which the German club will play its final against Dortmund on May 21.

In his last season in Munich, Guardiola left again the Champions League in the hands of a Spanish team, Atletico Madrid, after their elimination in 2014 against Real Madrid and last year against Barcelona.

Those losses were lamented by Kicker newspaper on its front page under the headline “The bitter hat-trick”.

The newspaper added that after a “dramatic” game, Bayern have been eliminated for the third consecutive year from the semi-finals of the Champions League, which they won in 2013.